ChinaJoy 2016, or 14th China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference, is held at the Shanghai New International Expo, July 28-31. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 14th annual China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference, or ChinaJoy 2016, kicked off on July 28 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the city’s Pudong New Area.

The four day event drew record crowds, in excess of 325,000, attracted by the wide-ranging activities on offer, including a kaleidoscopic Cosplay Carnival, a large Esport competition and a China Game Developers Conference.

ChinaJoy 2016, rebranded with the slogan "Let hardware meet software", aimed to address the growing popularity of emerging intelligence hardware. The Expo certainly followed through on its promise by drawing hundreds of exhibitors from over 30 countries who gathered to showcase the latest products and technologies.

As the largest gaming and digital entertainment exhibition throughout Asia, ChinaJoy 2016 not only displayed the most advanced technologies in the gaming industry but also showed the results of continued integration between the gaming, film, television, animation and online industries.

The B2C (business to customer) interactive entertainment exhibition area remains the most popular attraction for visitors. The near 300 exhibitors offered visitors a chance to play over 3500 games, always a big hit with ACG (Anime, Comic, Games) devotees .

Also of importance at ChinaJoy is the B2B (business to business) platform and around 60,000 trade visitors assemble in order to meet, trade and discuss the latest developments in their respective industries. An estimated 400 million dollars' worth of trade volume was negotiated among various enterprises.

With ChinaJoy expanding year-on-year, 2016's edition featured 12 separate pavilions covering 140,000 square meters, a 14 percent increase from the previous year. This reflects the multidimensional nature of the Expo with visitors arriving to game, engaging in business and discussing future technological trends. One can only expect that 2017's ChinaJoy will raise the bar once again.